Darry Worthington previews the two Super Rugby AU Round 5 games which are being played on Friday the 31st of July and Saturday the 1st of August.
Image Copyright – Steve Haag Sports
Super Rugby AU reaches the mid-way point of the round-robin phase this coming weekend and there’s a cracker of a game in-store with the second-placed Reds travelling to Canberra to take on the log-leading Brumbies.
While the opening game of the weekend isn’t as eye-catching as the aforementioned fixture, we should still be in for some entertaining rugby when the winless Force takes on a Rebels side that claimed their first victory of the campaign last weekend.
Western Force v Melbourne Rebels
Friday 31 July
HBF Park
11:05
To Win (80 Mins)
Force 3/1
Draw 28/1
Rebels 1/4
Handicap
Force (+9.5) 9/10
Rebels (-9.5) 9/10
The Force will be looking to get their first win of the campaign under their belts when they take on a Rebels side who grabbed their first victory last weekend.
The hosts suffered their biggest defeat of the campaign so far when they went down 0-24 to the Brumbies. While they did have some good try-scoring opportunities, a lack of composure and some poor hands saw the Force fail to cross the whitewash out in Canberra.
Like the Force, the Rebels weren’t exactly free-scoring last weekend as they managed to only score two tries during their 29-10 victory over the Waratahs. Fly-half Matt Toumua was the star of the show as the veteran Wallaby excelled with the boot.
The Rebels have won three of the last five meetings between the two sides with their last victory coming back in 2016 where they ran out 27-22 victors in Melbourne. The Force did win the last game between the two sides, however, winning the 2017 encounter 31-22 in Perth.
Verdict: Rebels (-9.5) 9/10
While I think the Rebels will ultimately clear the handicap, I’ll be having a crack on the Force to be the first team to ten points along with backing the Rebels to clear the ‘cap.
Brumbies vs Reds
Saturday 1 August
GIO Stadium
11:15
To Win (80 Mins)
Brumbies 1/3
Draw 25/1
Reds 24/10
Handicap
Brumbies (-7.5) 9/10
Reds (+7.5) 9/10
Next up it’s the clash of the tournament thus far with the log-leading Brumbies taking on the second-placed Reds. The visitors currently sit four points off the table-toppers and could even go above them with an unlikely bonus-point win.
The Brumbies continued their winning streak last weekend as they beat the Force 24-0 in Canberra. Prior to that fixture, they had registered wins over the Waratahs (23-24) and the Rebels (31-23).
Conversely, the Reds enjoyed a bye week last weekend and will be fresh and raring to go. They are also undefeated this season beating the Force 31-24 and the Waratahs 32-26. The only blemish on their record was an 18-18 draw with the Rebels.
The Brumbies have won three of the last five games between the sides with the Reds last victory coming back in March 2019. The contest between the duo saw the Brumbies run out 27-24 victors.
Verdict: Reds (+7.5) 9/10
While there have been some blowout scorelines when these two have met in recent years, I’m expecting a closely fought affair here. As such, I’m on the Reds plus handicap.
